INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT INAUGURATED IN HAGUE

THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - The first standing International Criminal Court (ICC) was inaugurated in The Hague on Tuesday when 18 judges were sworn in before the president of the Assembly of State Parties, Jordanian Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al- Hussein, in the presence of Dutch Queen Beatrix and U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan. #L# Eleven men and seven women judges took their oaths at the Dutch parliament's Knights' Hall in front of some 550 representatives of Rome Statute states, including presidents, prime ministers, and foreign ministers. The ICC was established on 17 July 1998 when 120 states signed the Rome Statute, which came into force on 1 July 2002 after being ratified by 60 signatories. To date 139 states have acceded the Statute, while 89 have approved it, including Croatia. The United States was the main opponent to the court's founding and did not send an official delegate to the inauguration ceremony. Russia and China have not acceded the Rome Statute either. The inauguration of the ICC is of "historic significance and represents a landmark in the development of international penal law," Ivo Josipovic, a Croatian international law expert who was an ICC judge nominee, told Hina. The Croatian delegation at the inauguration was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Simonovic. (hina) ha sb